Sequins are well known in the art and are usually flat, circular, shiny disks that can be applied to garments to increase the appeal and attractiveness thereof. Such flat sequins are made in a continuous strip as illustrated in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,546. Each of the sequins has a substantially circular outer diameter with a slight degree of flattening at the noon and six o'clock positions due to the inherent process of severing the sequins from the continuous strip without discarding any material. An orifice is also present in the center of each sequin to allow for passage of needle and thread so that it can be attached to a garment or other material. In order to provide for easy and precise detachment of a single sequin from the continuous strip, at the neck portion adjoining adjacent sequins, a score line is produced perpendicular to the length of the strip. It has been found, as indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,546, that scoring of the strip results in a cleaner separation of the sequin from the continuous strip thereby ensuring that the portion of the strip at the narrowest point between sequins is not unduly weak and will not sever during feeding of the strip from a feed wheel to the sewing attachment. Such continuous rolls or reels of flat sequins can then be used in an automated process for attaching the sequins to garments or other material as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,546.
However, dish-shaped sequins with multifaceted faces are more attractive on garments or other material because they provide multiple light reflecting faces and provide enhanced decoration. Such sequins have been handmade in the prior art with each individual sequin being placed in a die with a manual punch being used to form the sequin with the dish-shaped face having multiple facets thereon. Such sequins are obviously very expensive because of the arduous labor that must be performed to shape each sequin properly. Further, such sequins must be hand-sewn on garments or other material because no machine has been developed that can feed individual sequins to a sewing device. They must be continuously connected to each other in a ribbon form and in the prior art this has not been possible with dish-shaped sequins.
The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing an apparatus for forming a ribbon of continuously connected dish-shaped sequins. A continuous ribbon of moldable material, such as seven mil polyester in widths of approximately 0.312 inch or other desired widths, is fed to a punch-and-die system. The material must be of sufficient thickness and moldability that it will retain a dish shape after being formed in the punch-and-die system. The continuous ribbon of moldable material is moved through the punch-and-die system incrementally from one discrete position to the next. At a first position a score line is formed in a plane perpendicular to the movement of the ribbon of material which will later become a score line between individual sequins to facilitate their removal automatically when they are sewed on material. At a second position in the die, a hole is punched in the ribbon. At third and fourth positions, the outer shape of the sequin is formed such that the ribbon has continuous sequins coupled together by a narrow piece of ribbon on which the score line is located. At a fifth spaced location in the punch-and-die system, the dish-shaped sequin is formed with a multifaceted face. The completed ribbon of continuously connected dish-shaped sequins is then received from the output of the punch-and-die system on a take-up reel for use at a later time. The forming of the score line, the hole, the outer shape of the sequin and the multifaceted dish-shaped face is accomplished simultaneously by the punch-and-die system after the ribbon has moved from the first position to the fifth position.
The punch plate has thereon in sequential order the scoring punch, the round punch for forming the hole, the trim or sequin shaping punches and the dish-shape forming punch. Obviously, the die portion has the appropriate orifices therein for receiving the punches as designated. A motor is coupled to any well-known device such as stepping wheels to step the tape through the punch-and-die plates incrementally to the five discrete positions. Further, the motor drives a cam operated arrangement in a well-known manner which forces the punch plate into the die plate when the continuous ribbon has stopped at each particular discrete position.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for forming a ribbon of continuously connected dish-shaped sequins.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a punch-and-die system for receiving a continuous ribbon of moldable material, forming a score line between sequins, punching a hole in the ribbon of moldable material at the center of each sequin, cutting the outer shape of each sequin around the hole so as to leave a connecting portion with the score line between sequins and forming a dish-shape in each sequin with multiple faces to enhance the light reflecting capabilities of the sequin.